Re: land for rent Upstate NY

Fri Feb 06, 2009 4:32 pm

DaveMy uncle had a dairy farm just south in Cato. Man, I loved that place when I was a kid climbing in the hay barn and crossing over those rolling hills. My great grandfather had a farm where Fort Drum got built just before WWII, which got bought by the govt. so they could relocate. They moved to West Winfield. He was active pushing through legislation that would requirecows to be checked for tubercelosis. His prized herd of blue ribbon winners was one of the first herds to be destroyed. Tears came to my eyes when I heard that story. I like where I live but my heart will always be in upstate NY. I've got relatives in Auburn, Weedsport, Canastota, and Geneva. Wish I could have a farm in upstate NY...very pretty farm country indeed. Chris

Re: land for rent Upstate NY

Fri Feb 06, 2009 9:29 pm

Chris,i too grew up on a farm, between Ithaca and Watkins Glen, N.Y., on hilly, glacier-scraped land requiring tons of lime just to get pasture to grow! we raised sheep, 250-odd head at any one time. we had a milk cow which gave 15 gallons a day - 7+ in the morning, and 7+ in the evening, for years and years. we had pigs (to soak up all the extra milk), and man we had good pork on milk&corn-fed pigs. we had one steer who dressed-out at 1250lbs! meat every night, pancakes with maple syrup frequently in the morning, if not eggs & bacon. and, of course, more than a man's amount of work in a day, too. them were the good days ;^)

Farms up in the Northern Tier are a dime-a-dozen these days... abandoned left & right, and for sale everywhere. a sign of the times, where it ain't dairy if it ain't big dairy, and the little guys cannot keep up, so they sell out eventually. hopefully, with a warming climate and available land, Upstate will again be an agriculturally important state.

thanks for listening!dave

Re: land for rent Upstate NY

Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:30 pm

Chris, its neat that your family was or is? in West Winfield, we farmed in Richfield Springs for a while late 80s to mid 90s. Very nice area and people too. Chuck